Hidden in the Shadows
by Kates89
Summary: A young girl, alone in New York on a cold and windy night. Who is she searching for? What is the danger that haunts her family?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my new story, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it :) I want to say a massive thank you to Smuffly who has been a great help with this story! :D**

The cold wind blew against the young girl as she attempted to make her way along the dry muddy pathway. Her cheeks were red and sore from the amount of time she'd spent outside in the awful weather, her feet ached with every step she took and her back hurt from carrying her red back pack on her back.

The sky was starting to get dark and she swore she could feel tiny drops of rain falling on her face and hands every few steps. Rain was the last thing she needed right now. She hadn't expected to be out here so long; she thought someone would have found her by now and because of that she hadn't quite come dressed for the weather. Her thin coat provided little protection, nor did her long white t-shirt or blue leggings. As for her leather boots, she wasn't too sure how long they would last in the mud once it started to rain.

She knew that she shouldn't have come here, that she should have waited in the warm bus terminal or even at home but she needed to come; she needed to find some help. She'd seen a lot of people on her journey but she knew that she couldn't trust any of them. Her Mum had told her there was only one person she could trust in this city. She knew where to find her - her Mum had told her that information too - but now she had to try and work out how to find the right address. She looked up and saw the very top of a couple of high towered buildings above the tips of the trees. Warm yellow lights shone from them and she imagined the owners of the apartments tucked up warmly, watching TV or eating dinner. How she wished she could be one of those people right now.

She carried on walking, struggling against the force of the wind. The noises in the trees around her made her jump but she wasn't scared; these noises were nothing compared to the ones she'd heard in her home town. Oh, how she missed home. It had been days since she'd left there, since she'd left the warmth of her house and the love of her parents. They'd been the ones to send her though, and they had even paid for her bus ticket to make sure she arrived. They wanted to come themselves but under the circumstances it wasn't possible and she knew that.

The rain was coming down heavier now, pelting hard on her head and arms. She tried to pull her thin jacket around her but it didn't stop the coldness from spreading through her. She knew she should have eaten on the coach journey. Her Mum had always told her that food helped you to keep warm. The food at the bus stops had looked appealing; even the sandwiches in their cellophane packets with limp lettuce and processed cheese had appealed to her but she had stupidly left her purse on the first coach as she got off and by the time she'd remembered and had ran back to collect it, the coach had moved on to its next destination. She wished she'd packed a couple of snacks like her parents had suggested but she thought they'd just weigh her down.

Walking further up she soon found a ring of trees that sat tightly together. A few even entwined with each other. There was just enough room between two of them for her to squeeze in and settle herself down. The trees themselves didn't provide a lot of cover from the heavy rain but it was nice to sit for a while and rest her feet. Settling her back pack in front of her she undid it and checked that everything was still okay inside, it was. The bag held the items that her parents had asked her to bring, including her Father's credit card, which she was only to use in emergencies, which she'd thankfully kept separate from her purse, she knew that she might now have to use this to buy food as soon as she found somewhere. The last item in her bag was her phone which had died yesterday afternoon while she was on the coach.

Sighing, she zipped her back pack back up and pushed it under her legs, so they rested on it. She then laid her head back on to one of the trees behind her and closed her eyes. She imagined what her parents would be doing now - probably worrying about her or trying to get her little sister to go to bed. Her little sister, Tegan, or Tee for short would only sleep if she was next to her and so she knew that would have been a struggle for her parents since she left.

She shivered and opened her eyes as a gust of cold wind blew through the ring of trees. She felt tired; exhausted in fact, but she was scared to let sleep take over as she wasn't too sure if she'd wake again. She needed to stay awake; she needed to do what she'd come here for. The feeling of tiredness was too strong, however, and she could feel it pulling her in, even in these cold conditions. She rolled her coat up and looked at her watch. It was just coming up for 7pm. Maybe she could sleep? Even if it was only for an hour or so, surely it would give her more strength to carry on the rest of her trip?

She pulled her sleeve back down, snuggled in against the trees and closed her eyes, letting sleep overtake her at last - and that's where she stayed, in the small ring of trees, until the sun rose again and the dog walker came across her ice cold body.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter two! I hope you all enjoy it, I'd love to hear what you all think about it :) Again a massive thank you goes to Smuffly! :D**

So what do you have for us, Sid?" Mac asked as he and Lindsay approached the metal slab in the morgue upon which a young male was lying.

"Not much I'm afraid" Sid sighed. "He was relatively healthy. Looking at his bladder, it's obvious he liked to drink, but what guy this age doesn't? I know I did... it used to get me into a lot of trouble, believe you me!"

"Did you retrieve the bullets?" Mac asked.

"Of course. They're right over here waiting for you" Sid replied as he walked over to the counter.

"Dr Hammerback," a young tech call as she entered the morgue. "We've got a Jane Doe."

"Okay... put her over there," Sid said, nodding to a spot behind Lindsay and Mac. "I'll be over to see her in a second."

"Okay," the lab tech smiled before going back out of the room to collect the Jane Doe.

"Busy day?" Lindsay asked.

"Very. I've already had a John Doe in this morning and I've also got the body of the man that Danny and Sheldon found," Sid replied as he walked back over to the pair with the pot containing the bullets.

"Well, we'll just take these and be on our way - if there's nothing else?" Mac asked as he took the bullets from Sid.

Sid took one last look through his notes. "No... I think that was it. One of those bullets definitely ended this poor man's life."

"Thanks, Sid," Mac smiled with a nod. "We'll find out who did this."

"I don't doubt that," Sid replied.

Lindsay and Mac both turned to go but stopped as the lab tech pushed the body containing the Jane Doe in front of them. "Sorry," she whispered as she rushed past.

"It's no problem," Mac smiled as he began to walk to the lift. "Lindsay, if you and Jo follow up on the bullets then... Lindsay?" Mac turned to find Lindsay still in the spot where he'd last seen her, staring at the body on the stretcher that the lab tech had wheeled past them. "Lindsay?" Mac said approaching the younger CSI. "Are you okay?"

Lindsay turned to Sid and pointed to the Jane Doe. "Where was she found?"

Sid walked over and picked up the clip board that sat at the end of the stretcher. Quickly, he scanned though the notes and then looked up at Lindsay. "Central park. It seems she was homeless and died from the cold."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, until I open her up I can't be entirely sure but, according to this, there are no entry wounds or defensive marks. I guess it could be an overdose but again, as I said before, I won't know until I open her up."

Lindsay nodded. "I understand." She took one last glance at the girl on the stretcher. She couldn't help but think of Lucy when she saw her. Not that she knew why; the hair was too light, far too blonde to be Lucy's and her age wasn't right either. Then it came to her - the nose; the small dainty nose that sat in the middle of the young girl's round face was exactly the same as Lucy's. How could that be possible? Lindsay sighed and shook the thoughts from her head. She needed to concentrate on the case in hand.

"Coming, Lindsay?" Mac called from the elevator with one hand keeping the door open.

Lindsay nodded and quickly made her way over. "Sorry. I guess I got distracted."

"Is everything okay?" Mac asked with concern in his voice as he removed his hand and let the doors slide shut before pressing the button to take them up to the lab.

Lindsay gave him another nod. "Yeah... I guess even after all this time, I still get a little shook up from seeing teenage girls lying in the morgue."

Mac gave her a small knowing nod. He knew that, even after all these years, the subject was still a sore point with Lindsay and he wasn't going to push it. "Are you okay to find Jo and follow up on the bullets when we arrive at the lab?"

"Of course." Lindsay smiled.

"Good. I'll go and check on Adam and see if he's come up with any more on the CCTV footage. Then I have a few calls to make but, after that, I'll come and see what the two of you have found." He passed Lindsay the small jar which contained the bullets.

"Okay," Lindsay replied as the lift doors opened on to the lab floor. They both stepped out and Mac gave her a warm smile before heading off to find Adam. Lindsay began to walk towards the break room, where she knew she'd find Jo finishing up her coffee.

"Hey, Montana!" Danny called as he came out of the AV lab and caught up with his wife. "I was looking for you."

"Well, you've found me," Lindsay smiled.

"I have." Danny laughed. "Look, I was gonna say me and Hawkes are nearly done for the day; we're waiting on a load of results but I don't think they'll be back before tomorrow, so I just bumped into Mac and he's told me we can head off. I'll grab Lucy from my Mum's and do her some dinner. Saves her staying over, right?"

Lindsay nodded. "Yeah, sounds good and it means that I don't have to get up to collect her in the morning."

"Exactly," Danny smiled as he leant down to give his wife a kiss.

"I probably won't be home till late."

"That's okay, I can get us a take away for when you get in."

"That sounds good, pizza?"

"Of course it's gonna be pizza," Danny laughed.

Lindsay gave him a loving smile. "I should really go and find Jo or I'll never get home tonight."

"Okay, you do that and I'll go and get our little bambino."

"I love you," Lindsay replied before giving him a good bye kiss.

"I love you too, babe," Danny smiled, and strolled off in the direction of the locker room.

Lindsay watched him walk away, then turned and headed for the break room to find Jo.

"So you see, I can't really find the face of the shooter... well it's there, obviously, but you can't see it because of the mask. You'd think though, wouldn't you, that if you were brave enough... or should that be stupid enough to shoot someone, then you'd be stupid enough to show them your face?" Adam rambled to Mac.

"You would," Mac replied. "But they know that makes it too easy for us. Are there any more angles you can access?"

Adam spun round on his chair to face the computer and began to click the mouse. "These are all the angles that are available to me."

Mac came to stand behind the lab rat and carefully studied each shot as Adam slowly clicked through them one by one. "Isn' t there a camera inside the hotel lobby? That's where our masked man comes from." Mac pointed to the hotel in the corner of the latest shot.

"I've tried calling them to get the footage but they're not answering the phone," Adam told him with a sigh. "Which is strange as well - you'd have thought a posh hotel like that would want to take bookings!"

Mac let out a little laugh. "You would. Don't worry - I've got to make a few calls in a minute. I'll add them to the list." He took a pen from Adam's desk and a scrap of paper, on which he noted the name of the hotel. "See if you can find anything else, Adam. Remember, the most insignificant detail could be really important to this case."

"Okay, Boss, I'll get on that," Adam nodded as he began clicking yet again though the different camera angles.

Mac turned and left the room. He had almost reached his office when he heard his name being called. Turning, he saw Sid exiting the elevator.

"Oh, I'm so glad I caught you!" Sid exclaimed. "I've got something I think you might be interested in."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3, sorry it's taken a while to post but I've been really busy recently but I'm hoping after this week things will calm down for a little bit and I'll hopefully manage to get chapter 4 finished before the end of the month :)**

**Massive thank you again to Smuffly for going over this chapter for me! :)**

"Bingo! We have a match," Jo exclaimed as she spun round in her chair to face Lindsay.

"We do?" Lindsay replied with a small sigh of relief.

"Yes - another bullet was found from the same gun about two years ago and apparently, back then, the gun was registered to a Jimmy Grace."

"Does it say where we can find him?"

Jo had a quick look through the notes. "According to this, he lives in Arizona."

"So he lives in Arizona, yet both times he's used his gun and got caught, it's been here in New York City?" Lindsay frowned.

"It seems that way. I'll make a phone call to the Arizona police department and see if they can give Mr Grace a little call and see if he knows anything about this shooting"

"Sounds good," Lindsay agreed

"While I do that, why don't you head down for your break?" Jo suggested.

"Are you sure?

"Of course and then by the time we're both done, hopefully the hotel will have sent across their CCTV to Adam and we can help him go through it."

"Hopefully," Lindsay replied

Jo smiled. "Right, meet you in the AV lab in 20 minutes?"

Lindsay nodded as she left the evidence room and made her way to the break room.

"But Daddy, I want a Mummy cuddle before I go to sleep," Lucy pouted as she lay in bed, clutching her stuffed brown teddy bear.

"I know, sweetheart, but Mummy's having to work late. Go to sleep now, though, like a good girl and I'll make sure to send her up to give you a kiss and a cuddle when she gets home."

"Promise?" Lucy asked as she pulled her arm out from under the duvet and held out her small pinky finger to her father.

"I promise," Danny replied honestly as they hooked their fingers together.

"Okay," Lucy smiled. "I'll go to sleep now... but only if I can get one more cuddle?"

Danny laughed. Even at the age of three and a half, Lucy had him well and truly wrapped around her finger - literally. He lent forward and cuddled his little girl close. "Is that better?"

Lucy nodded. "But Bear said that he would like a cuddle too."

"Would he now?"

Lucy nodded with a giggle. "He said Daddy cuddles are the best."

"Oh well, in that case I'm going to have to give him one, aren't I?" Danny picked up the stuffed bear and hugged him close to his chest before passing him back to Lucy. He leant over and kissed Lucy's forehead. "Now, time for sleep - and remember, me and Mummy love you lots."

"I love you lots and lots too, Daddy!" Lucy grinned before rolling over and closing her eyes. She held bear tightly in her arms.

Danny got up and made his way to the door. "Night night, sleep tight."

"And don't let the bed bugs bite!" Lucy's muffled reply came from her bed. It was a routine they had been doing since Lucy could talk.

Danny switched off the bedroom light and then pulled the door to before making his way down stairs.

Lindsay had just finished off her apple when her cell phone began to buzz in her pocket. Pulling it out, she accepted the call and held it to her ear. "Messer."

"Hey baby, it's me. Are you free to talk?" Danny's thick New York accent said from the other end of the phone.

"I've got about five minutes left of my break, so we can have a quick chat. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah... I just put Lucy to bed so I just thought I'd ring you to see how you were getting on?"

Hearing Danny say the name 'Lucy' made Lindsay think of the young Jane Doe she had managed to clear from her head earlier. She knew she must find Sid later on, to ask how the autopsy went and to see if they had managed to ID her yet.

"Linds?"

"Sorry... mind drifted. I guess it's been a long day," she replied apologetically.

"Come home then. You've worked way past the end of your shift, Linds; you don't need to stay there."

"I know but Jo and I have made some progress. I just need to go over some stuff with Adam and then I should be home."

"Okay, well, don't be too long - I can hear that pizza calling my name."

Lindsay laughed. "How was Lucy?"

"She was fine. Missing her Mummy, though."

"I miss her too," Lindsay replied, "but I'll head back to work now and I'll be home soon."

"Okay," Danny replied. "I love you."

"I love you too, Danny," Lindsay said with a smile before ending the call. Standing up, she slid her phone back into her pocket and picked up her apple core. She carried it over to the bin and chucked it in before heading off to find Adam and Jo in the AV lab.

Mac sat in Sid's small office with the items that Sid had shown him an hour earlier still in front of him. There was a mobile phone that had no battery and a credit card that belong to a Mr. J. Collins - who obviously wasn't the girl on the table, so had she stolen it? Was that the reason why she was now dead - because she had taken something that didn't belong to her? Mac didn't believe that. The girl didn't look like the sort who would steal but after working in this line of business for so long, he knew that people could surprise you.

Looking up, he could see Sid performing the autopsy on the young girl. He could just make out her long blonde hair that was draped over the side of the metal slab. Mac was determined to find out who this young girl was and what she was doing here in the city and that determination came from the last item lying in front of him on the table. A folder full of old newspaper clippings about a killer whose name was all too familiar.


End file.
